SO AS BAD AS THEY ARE SHOULD TAG CONTINUE?

 Or worded otherwise is there any public value in their continued goody two shoes, oh so deferential, oh so polite existence? Hmm despite Tiffany's attempts (in harmony with Ramin Ansari's) to verbally minimize the serious consequences of long term, continued on-site pumping failures, the answer is grudgingly yes. Lies are being told but even the most deferential and dense TAG members are at last beginning to ask well why is there a Target Rate in the first place if it's numbers are being ignored? Eventually they will clue in to the fact that the Target Rates as clearly STATED IN WRITING are the actual pumping recommendations either to maintain hydraulic containment on the Lanxess site (i.e. stop leakage of contaminated groundwater off-site) or they are the required pumping rates to actually clean up the contaminated Elmira Aquifers. Oh and these Target Rates are determined by Lanxess Canada's own client driven consultants (GHD).

Other unanswered and unclarified comments also go onto the formal record (maybe). Tiffany's comments about the excess chlorobenzene discovered or at least pronounced by Dr. Neil Thompson is an example. Chlorobenzene is a DNAPL chemical and maybe, just maybe "they" continue to lie to citizens on this point as well. Yes chlorobenzene concentrations have dropped in many locations. If however there is still sub-surface either residual or free phase chlorobenzene present then good luck with that. Slow dissolving chlorobenzene (& other DNAPLS) will be with us for a very long time as in literally decades or longer. While it dissolves into groundwater at above drinking water standards it takes a very long time to do so without additional cleanup technologies being used. Additional technologies that Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura and Lanxess have long resisted and their fellow travellors including politicians have given them support to resist and ignore.

Keeping TAG around longer is better than shutting everything down and pretending the crisis is over. It is not and the Creek, the Elmira Aquifers and the Lanxess site remain highly polluted. Of course over thirty-three years have been wasted with the cheapest, least effective cleanup possible always ruling.